STUDENT OF THE YEAR

Karim Sheldon was the most popular kid in school. He was also the best athlete, best student, and excelled at everything he did. He would always be sure to let everyone know how great he was. Sure Karim scored a lot of points on the basketball court. But that's because he was a "ball hog" meaning that he never passed to his teammates or got them involved. During class he would put up his hand and answer every question before any of the other students could reply. Although he was pretty selfish, people still wanted to hang out with him.

ASTEROIDS LASER TAG

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ENTERTAINMENT CENTER

Karim invited a small group of classmates to his 12th birthday party on Saturday. The party would begin at Asteroids Laser Tag and Entertainment Center. I had never played before and was very excited. "Thank you all for coming to my birthday party. It's gonna be epic!" One of the employees, a pimply-faced kid in his late teens went over the rules of the game as we got ready to play. "I'll open the gifts you got me after I dominate everyone in the laser maze." In the corner sat the presents that Karim's friends had bought for him. Not surprisingly, the biggest gift of them all was the one that Karim had bought himself.

The boys put on their ugly oversized neon orange shirts and headed into the laser maze. Karim handed out laser guns to the other kids as he wanted to be sure he got the coolest one. They slowly walked down a dark corridor as some cheesy space music filled the air. When they emerged from the tunnel it was pitch black. Suddenly a series of bright lights began to flash and flicker. A robotic voice then announced: "It's Laser Time!" as techno music shook the walls. The room was soon lit by florescent lights. "Where are you?" Emmett called out. ZAP! "Down goes Freddie!" "Hey! Not fair!" ZAP! "Better luck next time Emmett!" "Yo, Craig!" ZAP! "I win! I win!" Karim shouted as he pumped his fist.

As the lights started to come back on, Karim noticed that he was all alone. "Guys? Where did you go? I'm sorry I defeated you all in record time but you gotta admit that was pretty sweet....Guys?" "There you are. The savior of the galaxy." "Who? Me?" "I don't see any other soldiers around now do I? The name is Core the Combot. I am from the planet Yiphus in the Gorix 7R21 galaxy." Karim stood there in awe of the little robot and the words he was saying. "Bwah! This is some sort of joke. Alright guys, you got me. Joke's over." "We need you to stop The Berzerkers before they take over your galaxy as well. "Who?" "An army of rogue robots from the planet Necury. They raided my planet and left it in ruins."

"Now they're targeting Earth where they'll steal your resources and vanquish all of mankind." "Oh no! But why did you pick me to help?" "We've been observing you for years and apparently you're pretty awesome." "Can't argue with that" Karim grinned. "We needed to find an earthling that was brave, powerful, talented, and could lead a team of warriors into battle." "Whoa! You lost me at the word 'team.' I'm more than capable of doing it all by myself." ZAP! "Ow, what was that?" Karim asked as laser blasts narrowly missed his head. "Berzerkers! They're here! Quickly, to the space cruiser." "But I have reservations at Salvatore's Pizza Parlor for 4 pm!" "Now!" "Fine" Karim grumbled.

"Where are you taking me?" "To meet the rest of the resistance fighters." "What makes you think I even want to help you guys? Today is supposed to be all about me. It's my birthday after all." "Perhaps I misjudged you Karim. I thought that someone as accomplished as you are would want to do something that would change the universe. But it's obvious that you think the universe revolves around you. Oh, and The Berzerkers have captured your friends." "What? Okay, okay. No more lecturing. I get it. It's time to stop thinking of what's best for me and do what's best for the galaxy." "Now you're learning. We should be arriving at our destination in about ten minutes."

"Welcome to Vulcan!" "Are we on another planet?" Karim asked. "No, it's a city in Alberta. We thought it sounded cool and we're all big Star Trek fans. This is what's left of the Combots. We call ourselves 'The Last Rebels'. This will be the army that you'll lead into battle against The Berzerkers." "Battle?" Karim gulped. Karim found himself filled with a strange, new emotion. It was fear. "The Berzerkers have begun their assault on Earth. Let us know when it's time to go to war." "War? Uh, okay. We'll do it soon" Karim nervously replied. He had always been able to do whatever he set his mind to. But fighting rampaging robots from another planet? Did he have the courage for such a daunting task?

BREAKING NEWS: EARTH UNDER ATTACK FROM RUTHLESS GROUP OF ROBOTS KNOWN AS THE BERZERKERS.

"Good evening to all of our viewers across the galaxy. I'm Trer'uk Straq'ix-Brokaw at Milky Way News Headquarters and this is Breaking News. The planet Earth has been attacked by a band of marauding robots known as Berzerkers. The Berzerkers have conquered many planets throughout the solar system. So far, Earth's top military powers have not been able to stop the assault. Earth's only hope is a young man by the name of Karim Sheldon and a ragtag band of misfits known as The Last Rebels. We will continue to monitor the story as more details become available. And now back to our regularly scheduled programming, 500 straight hours of The Big Bang Theory."